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The Revised Penal Code of Pennsylvania

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The Revised Penal Code of Pennsylvania THE AMERICAN LAW REGISTER, AUGUST, 1860. THE REVISED PENAL CODE OF PENNSYLVANIA. 1. Report of the Commissioners appointed to revise the Penal 'Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, January 4, 1860. Harrisburg: A. BoYD HAMILTON, State Printer. 1860. pp. 129. 2. The Penal Laws of Pennsylvania, passed March 31, 1860. Harris- burg: A. BOYD HAMILTON, State Printer. 1860. pp. 79. The Legislature of Pennsylvania, on the nineteenth of April, 1858, passed the following resolutions 1. "That the Governor of this Commonwealth be and he is hereby authorized and required to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, three com- petent citizens, learned in the laws of this commonwealth, as commissioners to revise, collate and digest all the acts and statutes relating to'or touching the penal laws of the commonwealth. 2. "That it shall be the duty of the said commissioners carefully to collect, and reduce into one act, all acts and statutes, and parts of acts and statutes, relating to or touchlng the penal laws of the commonwealth, and arrange the same systemati- cally, under proper titles, divisions and sections; to omit in such revision all acts, and parts of acts, that have been repealed or supplied by subsequent acts, or which have expired; to suggest to the legislature any contradictions, omissions, defects or imperfections that may appear in the acts and statutes to be revised, and the mode in which the same may be reconciled, supplied, improved or amended; to designate such acts or statutes, or parts of acts or statutes as ought to be repealed, and to prepare and submit to the legislature new acts or statutes, as such repeal may ren- der advisable or necessary; and. generally, it shall be the duty of the said commis- sioners to execute the trust confided to them in such a manner as to render the penal code of Pennsylvania more efficient, clear and perfect, and the punishment VOL. VIU-87 THE REVISED PENAL CODE OF PENNSYLVANIA. inflicted on crimes and misdemeanors more uniform and better adapted to the sup- pression of crime and reformation of the offender: Provided nevertheless, That in the revision of the penal acts and statutes of the commonwealth, that in any pro- posed change in the phraseology thereof, the said change shall be clearly and dis- tinctly set forth, together with the acts or statutes proposed to be altered or amended. 8. "That it shall be the further duty of the said commissioners to report whether any, and if any, what changes in the modes and forms of proceeding in the adminis- tration of the penal laws of the commonwealth, or in the mode of selecting and summoning juries in criminal cases, would be advantageous or judicious." Under these- resolutions, the Governor appointed the Hon. Ellis Lewis, Hon. John 0. Knox, and David Webster Esq., Commissioners. The Hon. Ellis Lewis resigned after holding the appointment for a short time, and the Hon. Edward King was appointed in his place. The result of the labors of the three gentlemen who acted upon the Commission, is set forth in the first of the pamphlets, whose titles are placed at the head of this article. The second pamphlet above named contains the final action of the Legislature upon the report, and shows a merited appreciation and approval of the manner in which the duty entrusted to the Commissioners has been discharged, in the enactment with but few exceptions and alterations, of the laws proposed for its consideration. No one can deny that the Governor made a most judicious and discriminating choice in the selection of the Commissioners, to whom was to be entrusted the difficult and important duty of so modifying, arranging and improving the penal legislation of the commonwealth, as to render it "1more efficient, clear and perfect, and the punish- ment inflicted more uniform and better adapted to the suppression of crime and reformation of the offender." Judge King, for many years President Judge of the court having criminal jurisdiction in the City and County of Philadelphia, brought to the work an exten- sive legal knowledge, a mature judgment, and long and varied experience upon the bench of a criminal court. Judge Knox, form- erly President Judge of the tenth and eighteenth Judicial Districts, more recently an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and at the time of his appointment Attorney General of the State, is a ripe and accomplished lawyer, with a most fortunate blending of the practical and philosophical elements in his mental composition. Mr. THE REVISED PENAL CODE OF PENNSYLVANIA. Webster, a well-read lawyer, of accurate and well-disciplined habits of thought, industrious and careful, enjoyed the advantage of having served with great credit for several years as assistant, and afterwards as sole prosecuting attorney in Philadelphia. These three gentle- men have with promptness, faithfulness, and painstaking and careful accuracy and judgment performed their allotted duty. The results of their labors we propose briefly to examine. It is important to bear in mind from the outset, the terms of the resolutions under which the Commissioners were appointed. As is justly observed in the "report" they do not "contemplate a codi- fication of the criminal law." However beautiful, and logically exact a system may be formed by a mere theorist, yet it must be evident to any one who will even cursorily look over the "Penal Codes" which have from time to time been constructed and enacted in Europe and in this country, that they fall far short of the neces- sary requisite of a practical adaptation to the wants of the people and the spirit of our institutions. The whole subject of punishment, its means and the ends to be accomplished, is not, and probably never will be, definitely settled so as to admit of the construction of a penal code whose perfection shall be universally acknowledged. It is true the second resolution of the Legislature specifies certain ends to be attained, among which are "the suppression of crime and reformation of the offender." But the relative importance of these ends, and the adaptation and proper harmonizing of the means to be used for the attainment of all the desired results, admit of a wide field of discussion and very great diversity of opinion. In whatever elements, real perfection of a penal code may ultimately be deter- mined to consist, the Commissioners have wisely recognized the judiciousness of the terms in which the resolutions are framed, as tending to a more certain accomplishment of so desirable a result:- "The common law definitions of crimes are so clear, perspicuous, and precise; the modes of proof, rules of evidence, and manner of procedure in criminal investi- gation so well settled and known, that it is doubtful if they could be improved by the most skillful codification. In the common law code of crimes and criminal pro- cedure, and in judicious and well considered statutes extending or modifying its operations, so as to embrace new social emergencies as they arise, will be found an approximation to a perfect penal code. Gradual, it is true, inits progress, but more THE REVISED PENAL CODE OF PENNSYLVANIA. certain and permanent, than any attempt to strike out such a system at a single heat could possibly be." Report p. 3. The Commissioners therefore prepared and submitted to the Legis- lature two bills or acts, viz: No. 1, entitled "An act to consolidate, revise and amend the penal laws of this commonwealth ;" and No. 2, entitled "An act to consolidate, revise and amend the laws of this commonwealth relating to criminal procedure and pleading." However perfect may have been the bills reported as embodying the final conclusions of the Commissioners as to the necessary enact- ments for perfecting the penal code; their labors it is to be feared would have been of little practical benefit or avail, had they not accompanied the bills with so full and elaborate explanations of their relations to the existing legislation, the changes and modifica- tions proposed, and the reasons which led to the conclusions adopted, as to enable the Legislature almost at a glance as it were to clearly comprehend the effects of any action they might take upon the pro- -posed revision. For the determination of the Commissioners was not final ; every sentence, paragraph and section, as well as the whole body of the bills, had to be submitted to the scrutiny of the Legislature, for their adoption or rejection. With this in view, the report of the Commissioners is greatly to be commended for its clear- ness, method, and minuteness, without diffusiveness, of explanation and comment. With accurate and full references to the pages and sections of the Pamphlet Laws and Digest, containing the existing enactments,-brief statements of the mere re-enactments of laws already in force,-clear and terse explanations of modifications or amendments,-careful pointing out of any new provisions, with the reasons for their introduction briefly yet luminously set forth; the Legislature had the entire subject presented to their view in a business-like, condensed and quickly-comprehended form for their action. At the same time, certain general principles were determined upon by the Commissioners, which pervaded the whole tenor of their proposed legislation, and needed to be fully understood in order to a just appreciation of the entire scope of their suggebtions. These principles are set forth in the report, and are deserving of a very THE RL'i isED PENAL CODE OF PENNSYLVANIA. careful consideration, not only in a theoretical point of view for the determination of their propriety as elements governing the formation of a penal code; but also in the practical administration of criminal justice, so far as they have been actually adopted and incorporated into the penal legislation of our commonwealth:- ,,No penal provision has been introduced, which is not general in its application to the whole commonwealth.
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